Recently, Fortune Magazine named Google the “best company to work for” in its annual survey and study of dream workplaces. If you’re not a Googler, an eponymous term for Google employees, you may not appreciate the nap pods, on-site bowling alleys, multiple cafes, and bocce courts. But almost all of us instinctively depend upon Google’s most celebrated and widely used product.  The Google search engine is such an intrinsic part of our culture that the company’s name has become a verb. On June 15, 2006, the word “google” was added to the Oxford English Dictionary, solidifying the company’s place in our vocabulary.

Approximately 5 billion searches are conducted on Google each day. This week, Google announced its global search trends for 2012. After conducting a study of over one trillion queries that people typed into the search engine during the previous year, the heralded results deliver a snapshot of our collective spirit, or “Zeitgeist,” according to Google’s headline. As you probably know, zeitgeist is a German word that essentially means the “spirit of the time.”

Though the results may not surprise you, any curious person would be drawn to (read: click on) the tagline on Google’s homepage, which read(s), “find out what the world searched for in 2012.”  If you’re reading this blog, you probably use Google. I’ve conducted over a dozen searches today. But who’s counting? Well, Google is. Though you can easily google this report (cue the rolling eyes), the top three searches of this past year were (in order) Whitney Houston, Gangnam Style, and Hurricane Sandy.

Without question, we grieve the loss of life, as evidenced by our dramatic and now measurable reaction to Whitney Houston’s death, and the devastation of Hurricane Sandy. Our search for Gangnam Style reveals that many of us are still trying to channel our inner Michael Jackson. We just needed a little help from YouTube.  The events and people identified as subjects of our most frequent searches also include the 2012 Olympics, the iPad 3, Diablo 3, Kate Middleton, and Amanda Todd. But a larger, more personal question lingers – what do these, and other queries, reveal about us?

Though related, the subject of our search differs from the meaning of our search. Our need for information grows out of the fundamental narrative of our personal story, identity and corresponding well-being. Even so, Bono sings it best: “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” But don’t blame Google. Our internet searches, as revealed by this year’s most frequent queries, expose our deepest need. Our searches expose a latent compulsion to identify with a transcendent story. Whether we find the story entertaining (Gangnam Style, 2012 Olympics, etc.) or tragic (Houston, Todd, etc.), we instinctively project ourselves into these stories as characters who long to achieve recognition and connection, or avoid adversity and misfortune. Caught up in the aspiration of transcendent happiness or the aversion of devastating pain, our hearts and minds demand affirmation and solace.

Now that 2012 is coming to a close, what will we search for in 2013? Truth be told, most of us will search for the same thing using the same tool. Though there will be new trends, personalities, tragedies and events to enter into Google’s search engine next year, the source and hope of our query remains unchanged.  We are inescapably drawn toward a life that matters and Google is our witness.